Katty PerazaThousands are expected to come out for the Divas Half Marathon & 5K San Francisco Bay this weekend.

Boas, bubbly, tiaras and sparkling finisher medals will all be present in Burlingame Sunday at the Divas Half Marathon & 5K San Francisco Bay.

In its third year in Burlingame, the race is set to bring in about 5,500 runners and more than 1,000 spectators. The race, put on by Continental Event & Sports Management, starts and finishes at Bayside Park in Burlingame, with a course route that runs from Burlingame, through San Mateo, down to Foster City and loops back to finish at Bayside Park. With the running series spanning from California to Puerto Rico, this is the largest event of the series and the participants come from all 50 states.

“The registration numbers for this third running of the Divas Half Marathon & 5K Event in San Francisco Bay, California are amazing” said Gaby Pozo, Continental Event and Sports Management Group national race director, in a prepared statement. “Thanks to the hard work of the San Mateo [County] Convention and Visitors Bureau and the cities of San Mateo, Burlingame and Foster City, this event will be spectacular and, from the looks of it, the largest in its brief three-year history. The rise in participation shows that the course is absolutely breathtaking and one worth experiencing again and again as many participants will be back for the second or third time.”

The event, which has events across the country, is put on by Poza and her husband Robert Pozo, the president and CEO of Continental Event and Sports Management Group. The two aim to use the events to support women.

“These events give women a forum/venue to run as they please, to show their strengths and determination and to enjoy the vacation/social time with their friends throughout various venues,” Robert Pozo said in an email. “This is a great forum for them to express the ‘I work hard, I play hard, I’m a diva’ and feel proud and beautiful while doing so.”

Pozo adds this is a great opportunity for the locals to show their enthusiasm and their hospitality. Also, for participants from the area, this is a great opportunity to run as a woman or supporting an incredible woman in one’s life, he said.

“For one, I remember when my mother was always the steady income of the family (as she was an engineer and my father a general contractor),” he wrote. “She was, and is, such a great and strong woman, and this is a great way of memorializing women like that. For so many years, they had an uphill battle and now this is a great way of showing all that they can take on the challenge and run like divas, no matter where they are from, how they look or what they are wearing (boas, tiaras, etc.).”

Additionally, Ali Vincent, the first female winner of the Biggest Loser, will be at the event this year.

Although runner registration is closed, the event still needs volunteers. The group will make a donation of $200 for groups of 10 or more volunteers to man water stations and help with athlete check-in. Others can come to cheer on runners.